Leading up to its release, I had heard concerned mumblings from Dark Souls fans who were worried Bloodborne wouldn’t offer as much of a challenge that developer From Software’s other franchise had become famous for. It took me all of five minutes to confirm that those worries were unfounded, when the very first enemy, a werewolf, ravaged me next to an autopsy table. Twice.

Death is as present and necessary in Bloodborne as it is in the Souls series. It’s as much of a feature as the multiplayer is, and you’ll need to understand it, to learn your way around it, before you can master this game.

“Master” might not be the right word, since for most of us, such a feat isn’t possible. You’re getting familiar with it more than anything else. Think of death as just another adversary to conquer and you might not be as frustrated when it best you again, and again, and again.

The back of each copy of Bloodborne should have a label on it that reads something like Warning: this game will break you, because where the player’s goal is to learn enough from their mistakes to survive long enough to make progress, the game has the singular goal of breaking your will to accomplish that.

You can tell that developer From Software must glean a childlike joy from each new release. They introduced their unique brand of sadism in 2009 with Demon’s Souls, only to spend the next six years perfecting the formula with the Dark Souls series. Bloodborne is an evolution of that, another step forward for the company and one of gaming’s most challenging franchises.

I didn’t realize it until I sat down with this game, but there’s an element of nostalgia to these games that may be one of the driving forces for why I keep returning to them. Bloodborne is this generation’s Nightmare Creatures, and if you aren’t familiar with that fantastic and woefully short-lived horror series, I’d still recommend it today. The first game released nearly two decades ago, and it’s aged surprisingly well.

The first handful of hours you’ll spend with Bloodborne will be the most important. It’s during this time that you’ll find out if you have what it takes to stick with it. Its introductory hours are decidedly spooky, complete with werewolves, tortured souls, scary sounds and the first of many tough lessons you can look forward to learning in the hours to come.

Dread is thick in Yharnam, a ghostly city that could’ve been carved out of any of H.P. Lovecraft’s eerie tales. I half-expected Cthulhu itself to rise from the water like an angry Kraken. It didn’t, but I’d argue there are at least a few gargantuan beasts scattered about the world that would give that Elder God a run for its money.

Combat works much like it did in the Souls games. Your character has a light attack, a strong attack — both can be charged for more devastating blows — a ranged attack, and an assortment of evasive moves. You can lock onto a specific foe for something to focus on, but I only recommend you do that during one-on-one fights. The enemy AI is refreshingly unpredictable, so ignoring or underestimating something can, and almost certainly will, prove fatal.

You probably won’t even notice the more restricted arsenal compared to From Software’s previous games, because the developer went to great lengths to keep such a thing from mattering. The weapons are more satisfying, and they’ve been built to reward those who employ a good offense, as opposed to the more defensive play favored in Souls.

I love that your arsenal is immediately made more personal because you choose it. So much of this game is familiar that I found myself latching on to this one big change. I expected to be able to improve and customize my character’s stats, abilities, gear and, to a certain extent, the weapons, but I did not expect for the relationship to get even deeper. It does, thanks to the introduction of runes and blood gems, which give you even greater control over your character. It’s an extremely welcome addition.

The combat runs at a noticeable quicker pace that, I’ll admit, took some getting used to. I don’t often go in guns blazing, so it took a few defeats for me to be able to confidently vanquish even the most basic enemies. More strategic players will likely enjoy the health gain mechanic that’s been introduced to offset the quickened combat.

Basically, you can regain some of your lost health with well-timed blows. Mastering this will be required if you want to survive encounters with more capable enemies, like any of the game’s numerous bosses. 40-ish hours in and I’m still working on it.

Exploration is as important as ever, as there are countless rewards waiting for those who are willing to go out of their way to find hidden treasures. You’ll want to explore this world anyway, because it’s one of the most unforgettable game worlds I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.

The massive, inter-connected world that was first introduced in Dark Souls is back, and with it marks the return of the always fun mini game where you cautiously explore unfamiliar locales to see if your character is capable of surviving in them. I can’t tell you how many times I learned, usually through the expenditure of alarming quantities of blood, that I’m not quite ready to visit certain areas. It can be scary, but that’s part of the fun.

Loot is still very present, it just takes a while to fully reveal itself. When combined with all of the above, you get a combat system that puts a significantly greater emphasis on character builds than Souls ever did. Having a few different options is something you’ll want to consider trying out, especially if you find yourself being bested by the same baddie numerous times.

The innovative multiplayer this studio first gifted us with six years ago has made its way to Yharnam, too. Stuck on a particularly tough fight? Call on some allies to offer aid. Feeling mischievous? Embrace your devilish side by invading another player’s world to make their life more difficult. The former will come in handy when you’re ready to try a Chalice Dungeon — an assortment of dungeons with specific objectives and added difficulty modifiers that greatly add to this game’s replay factor.

As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, Bloodborne is very much a Dark Souls game. Many of the ideas are here, they’re just presented in a Gothic horror package that’s darker, bloodier, scarier and so much better. From Software has learned a lot from their Souls series, and that knowledge has clearly led the direction they took with this.

The Final Word: Bloodborne is one of the most challenging games I’ve ever played. It’s also one of the most beautiful, unforgettable and rewarding gaming experiences since, well, Dark Souls II.